Veteran actress Usha Nadkarni recently opened up about how she was once asked to audition for Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy, a request that left her furious. The Pavitra Rishta actress also narrated another unpleasant encounter at actor-producer Kavita Chaudhary's office.
Speaking about the experience during an interview with Pinkvilla, Nadkarni said, "These days there's this fad of auditions. I don't want to name the production, but recently I got a call about a role. They asked me to come to their office for an audition. I asked him, 'What have I been doing for the past 78 years that you want me to audition now?' The same thing happened during Gully Boy."
She recalled another instance when a young assistant called her for the Gully Boy audition. "He told me to come for an audition. I asked his age. He said 25. I told him I've been working since before your mother was married. I don't do such pointless auditions. I asked him who the director was, and he said Zoya Akhtar. I replied, 'Yes, she's a big man's daughter. Search my name on the internet, then you'll know the kind of work I've done. I don't audition. If you want me, cast me directly'."
Nadkarni compared the experience with her time on Akshay Kumar-starrer Rustom, where she played a small role. "They called me, explained what I had to do, and gave me the part. They didn't ask me to audition, and I was paid for my work. That's how it should be," she said.
Narrating another unpleasant encounter at Kavita Chaudhary's office, she stated. "A few assistant directors were sitting there. None even offered me a seat. Then one of them said the role I came for no longer existed, and instead asked me to read from a book. I told him I'd read it, took the book, and threw it right in front of him. My head just spun. How dare these inexperienced kids ask me to prove myself? I won't tolerate such nonsense."
The actress is loved by audiences for her versatile performances and iconic portrayal of the strict mother-in-law in Ektaa Kapoor's Pavitra Rishta, which starred Ankita Lokhande and Sushant Singh Rajput as lead actors.
Nadkarni was last seen as a contestant in Celebrity MasterChef India.
